It’s a well-known fact that the best ideas often come from just messing around for fun. So, a chunk of the team from Capybara Games, the studio behind awesome titles like Below, Don’t Starve: Shipwrecked, Super Time Force Ultra, Might & Magic: Clash of Heroes, and many others, and the Nintendo DS cult classic Critter Crunch, decided to play around with some creativity and make something everyone has been wanting for a long time. One day, during a company Fun Friday, when everyone was throwing ideas around, someone started talking about a game that eventually evolved into their promising new title: Battle Vision Network. BVN is a colour-matching puzzler with roguelike mechanics. Something like Critter Crunch, but better, bolder, more colorful and more fun!
A few weeks ago, we had the chance to chat with the founders and the team behind this promising game and get a bit closer to it. To be honest, before that, I hadn’t really heard of Battle Vision Network, maybe saw it in some news, but I didn’t invest enough time to understand what kind of game it was. So this presentation was pretty informative for me, enough that Battle Vision Network immediately landed on my Steam Wishlist. So let’s see what this is all about.
First and most basic thing I have to mention about this title: Battle Vision Network was originally planned as a 1v1 PvP online mobile game, taking into account the good relationship between Netflix Games and Capybara Games, and that’s how it was announced almost two years ago. But a lot has changed since then up to now. Battle Vision Network has shifted into primarily a single-player experience, with an optional online component for anyone who wants to test the skills they build in this galactic adventure against others online.
In the meantime, the focus has shifted toward the PC audience, because this type of game feels like the perfect escape from reality and a little breather after a tough day, just a few runs to exercise your brain, creativity, and resourcefulness. That doesn’t mean the game won’t come to mobile devices, but somehow it feels more natural for the ideas they had. Mostly because that widescreen format gave them room to make every match feel more alive. Besides the 6×6 board in front of you, you’ve got fans, the hosts of this tournament, and everything else that makes the whole scene way more vibrant and interesting. But let’s start from the beginning.
As I said, Battle Vision Network is a roguelite, turn-based, colour-matching puzzler with a really pleasant look and even better presentation. You take on the role of one of the teams in an intergalactic league that’s being broadcast across the galaxy on intergalactic TV. There are TV hosts who constantly comment on what’s happening on screen, what’s going on in the fight, who’s leading the team, basically everything you’d hear if you were watching a sports match on TV. Though here that cartoonish stylized design gives it a special flavour.
You start with one team that includes one captain (the strongest unit) and one regular pawn, if I can call it that. When you enter a match, you play until you lose, and while you’re winning, you earn money to spend in the Locker Room. There, you can unlock new teams, but more importantly, recruit new players for your teams to make progressing through the season easier. Each team has strengths and weaknesses, special abilities, bonuses, perks, and so on that help you arrange units on the board. The board is a 6×6 grid, and over time, the goal is to fill it completely. That’s where the colour-matching comes in. You can merge identical units and units of the same colour to make them stronger, whether they’re defensive and create a shield in front of everyone, gain more attack power, or get the ability to shoot the enemy team through the units protecting them. And the main goal? Eliminate the opponents. Or more precisely, rack up points to finish the match. After every turn, you attack the enemy team. Depending on how many units you destroy from their board, you get a certain number of points. If you manage to take down their stronger units, you score more. So this isn’t just matching colours and units, it’s also tactical thinking: what to attack now, what to save for later in the match.
Since this is a roguelite game, it’s not a question of whether you’ll lose a match; it’s when, because it has to happen, especially at the beginning. But the more you play, the more bucks (cash) you’ll have to recruit team members. At the start, it’ll probably be weak units, but over time, stronger ones arrive. The key is finding that balance in your team so you can always defend and attack, because in the end, the goal is to have more units and points than your opponent.
Ah yeah, almost forgot, since this is a roguelite, when you start a run, you’re basically starting a whole season. So every new run is a fresh season. Each run has its own path of matches ahead. Sometimes the path branches so you can choose harder matches with bigger rewards or easier ones with slightly smaller loot at the end. Also, during the season, you’ll get global modifiers that help in matches, and those modifiers can make a huge difference. The same goes for teams. Every team has unique bonuses and perks you can shape your gameplay around. Between matches, you’ll sometimes do interviews, and answering certain questions will also shape your path toward the goal of becoming the ultimate season winner. Seasons shouldn’t last too long, but the gameplay is what makes this game special. I haven’t tried it yet, but after watching and hearing about all the mechanics, this feels like the ideal mix of those old “candy crush” style games we all know, with a combat twist and a brilliant progression system.
I gotta admit, even though I’ve written a lot, this is only a fraction of what Battle Vision Network offers during gameplay, and the best part is the game doesn’t force you to play for hours to feel progress; you can play as much or as little as you want, whenever you want, and that’s awesome. The game is already tuned for Steam Deck play, so when you’re tired of sitting in a chair at your PC after a rough workday, you can grab your handheld PC, or maybe your phone, and knock out a few matches to unwind.
Yeah, these are all second-hand impressions if I can put it that way, since I haven’t played it directly myself. But during the presentation, I really wanted to jump in and try it out with them, though I know we have to be patient until Battle Vision Network releases. For now, Battle Vision Network looks like the perfect game to relax with and train your brain, no stress, cute characters everywhere, and a wonderful atmosphere. So after the presentation, Battle Vision Network is another must-play title for me this year.
